The Best Recipes on the Internet: Indian Classics

The sheer complexity of Indian flavors often makes cooking Indian at home seem like an impossible task. Looking at many recipes, you’ll see so many ingredients and steps that you’ll soon head back out to your favorite local curry house—or just head to Seamless to order in.

But even though Indian food isn’t instinctively easy to make, the home-cooked stuff can offer superior flavor, freshness, and a lighter pour with the heavy cream (restaurant curries are notoriously heavy). Once you’ve stocked your spice cabinet with a few unusual extras and gotten used to a couple new techniques, like frying your spices for maximum flavor, you’ll cut the intimidation factor way, way down.

So, where to start? As guides for this excursion, we’ve got talented Indian home cooks, restaurateurs, and bloggers to break down the best recipes out there for creating incredible versions of all the Indian favorites. With home cooking in mind, we’ve skipped recipes that really do require special equipment, like naan and poori, classic though they may be.

Now, all that stands between you and homemade chicken tikka masala is rice, yogurt, and cumin. So why wait? Here’s the panel:

1. Plain Dal

Best recipe:NPRHari Nayak says: This is one of the most important staple of an Indian meal or diet, and it is most comforting for me. It is soul food for most Indians around the world and is often paired with roti or plain rice.

2. Dosa

Best recipe:Not Derby PieCara Eisenpress says: Dosas are South Indian crepes made from a ground rice and lentil batter. They’re usually filled with potatoes and onions, but you can fill them with anything your imagination desires. Rivka from Not Derby Pie has perfected the technique of making dosas in a Western home kitchen, and her method will allow you to feast on these satisfying, crunchy, and delicious bread stand-ins.

3. Palak Paneer

Best recipe:SaveurCara Eisenpress says: Silken spinach and creamy fresh cheese are the notable ingredients in Indian favorite palak paneer (also known as saag paneer). This Saveur recipe explains to make the cheese at home, too. It’s nowhere near as hard as it sounds.

4. Chicken Biriyani

Best recipe:Vah Reh Vah Hari Nayak says: This is my favorite Indian dish because it's flavorful, festive, and wholesome. This recipe turns out a biryani that’s rich with yogurt, vegetables, and chicken, and it has an easy-to-follow video to go along with it.

5. Roti

Best recipe:Food NetworkPrerna Singh says: Naan can possibly be declared the most popular Indian flatbread across the globe, but in reality, roti or non-fermented thin wheat flatbread is what is cooked in Indian kitchens every day. This recipe by Food Network explains the recipe well and once you get the hang of it, you will find it a breeze to whip up a few rotis in minutes.

6. Channa Masala

Best recipe:Show Me the Curry Chitra Agrawal says: Channa masala is a popular chickpea curry from Punjab in North India. The recipe I grew up eating uses tea in it and, of course, the gals at Show Me The Curry have the legit version of it, not found in many places. This site is another old favorite of mine, and I love how they have videos for most every recipe.

7. Cashew Chicken

Best recipe:Pinch of Yum Cara Eisenpress says: Long before American vegans were waxing poetic about homemade cashew milk and cream, Indian cooking made the most of this rich nut in its sauces. This may not be the most authentic recipe ever, but it captures the essence of a spicy Indian chicken stew and is really approachable to make at home.

8. Ghee

Best recipe:Just Homemade Chitra Agrawal says:Ghee is known as clarified butter and is an integral part of Indian cooking, used for sautéing, drizzling on bread and rice, and making desserts. The smell of onions frying in ghee must be experienced by all. I love Radhika’s thorough description and step-by-step instructions of how to prepare this essential ingredient.

9. Curd Rice

Best recipe:Aayi's Recipes Chitra Agrawal says: Curd or yogurt rice is served in most every South Indian home. It’s usually eaten at the end of a meal to soothe your stomach after a spicy meal. I love Shilpa’s site because she covers some really authentic home cooking recipes from the state of Karnataka, where my mother is from.

10. Chicken Curry

Best recipe:MM's Kitchen Bites Prerna Singh says: Another must-learn dish in an Indian home is a chicken curry. As India is rich in culture and regional cuisine, every state and region has its own set of spices that people use to make their chicken curry. But this recipe by MM’s Kitchen Bites shares a basic and the most commonly practiced recipe, which she very warmly calls her "Papa’s Chicken Curry."

11. Vegatable Biryani

Best recipe:Veggie Belly Cara Eisenpress says: Much of the population in India is vegetarian, and perhaps that’s why their vegetable biryani always tastes better to me than the meat versions. I love using a lot of cauliflower, as this recipe does, because it’s such a delight to find a bite of cauliflower within the rice.

12. Samosas

Best recipe:Fine Cooking Cara Eisenpress says: A samosa is a fried pastry wrapped around spicy potatoes. What could be bad? I once took a cooking class with Julie Sahni where she helped us form and fry samosas, and I swear by her technique if you’re going to take this project on. It is, of course, a project—but the end result is worth it!

13. Chicken Tikka Masala

Best recipe:Serious Eats Cara Eisenpress says: Even though I know there are so many Indian dishes to try, I can never help placing an order for chicken tikka masala. Knowing how to make this classic at home may aid you in not asking for it each and every time you go out, especially because Serious Eats’ version tastes just like the best restaurant version you’ll find.

14. Spinach Pakoras

Best recipe:Show Me the Curry Cara Eisenpress says: Pakoras are vegetables that have been battered in a chickpea flour mixture and then deep-fried. They’re best served with a tangy sweet and sour sauce, or tamarind chutney. Since deep frying can be a bit of a challenge, it’s a treat to follow along with Show Me the Curry’s videos.

15. Papri Chaat

Best recipe:Sinfully SpicyCara Eisenpress says:Chaat really just means savory snack. Papri chaat feature some of the best of Indian cuisine—crunchy bread, cool yogurt, tangy sauce, and tons of spices. This recipe takes you through making the snack start to finish, including the dough, whereas many recipes simply require papri dough—not widely available here.

16. Lentil and Rice Pilaf

Best recipe:Chronicle BooksCara Eisenpress says: Indian rice and bean dishes tend to pack in the flavor, and though this recipe comes from the Muslim tradition of Indian cooking, it does use a classic technique: making a tadka, or spiced onion mixture. Serve this with meats or curries.

17. Tadka Dal

Best recipe:Chef in YouPrerna Singh says: A simple tempered lentil soup is a staple in Indian kitchen. Every region has its own version of tadka dal. Mostly the ingredients of tadka (or tempering) varies, but almost all of them are made by cooking lentils and then adding tempered spices. This recipe by Chef In You is basic and easy to understand. It uses red lentils (masoor dal), but you can substitute practically any lentil with or without skin, whole or split. Only cooking time would vary.

18. Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce

Best recipe:Fine CookingCara Eisenpress says: The dark purple dipping sauce served beside samosas and other snack foods is traditionally made from tamarind. But because tamarind paste can be difficult to find, Julie Sahni invented this genius stand-in that uses grocery staples to a similar sweet-and-sour effect.

19. Tandoori Chicken

Best recipe:Rachel Ray ShowHari Nayak says: This is called the king of all chicken dishes in India. It is available one every street corner in Indian, at street food carts and fancy restaurants. It is one of the most quintessential Indian dishes around.

20. Raita

Best recipe:Sanjeev KapoorCara Eisenpress says: Almost any Indian rice dish is enhanced with a spoonful of yogurt or flavored yogurt sauce, known as raita. This recipe is for a cucumber and garlic raita that also features handfuls of raisins and walnuts, though you can leave them out if you’d prefer to opt for a plainer sauce.

21. Egg Curry

Best recipe:ABCDs of CookingCara Eisenpress says: Egg curry is a really popular option in India that hasn’t always made the transition here. It’s a great way to make a curry vegetarian yet filled with protein. I love how Chitra’s recipe uses up the fresh tomatoes still available at the markets this time of year.

22. Kheer

Best recipe:New York TimesCara Eisenpress says: For me, an Indian meal is never complete without a small bowl of cardamom-spiked kheer, or rice pudding. Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s recipe from their cookbook, Seductions of Rice, is perfectly spiced. I happen to like it cold, straight from the fridge, but it’s pretty good warm too.

23. Pickled Cucumber and Carrot Salad

Best recipe:RutaCara Eisenpress says: Ruta Kahate has mastered the art of simplicity in Indian cooking, a fact that’s evident in this hot, sweet, and cool little salad. It’s all too easy to forgo fresh salads and easy sides when making Indian food in favor of rich stews and baked rice dishes, but it’s worth remembering to give fresh vegetables the Indian treatment every so often.

24. Aloo Paratha

Best recipe:Manjula's KitchenChitra Agrawal says: Aloo paratha is a spiced, potato-stuffed flatbread fried up on a skillet—a home-cooked staple in North India. Manjula was probably the first Indian food blog I ever started reading. She reminds me of my grandmothers and aunties because you can just tell she has made each of her recipes a ton of times. She also has videos for them all.

25. Gajrela

Best recipe:Maamoul Cara Eisenpress says: Extend your high opinion of carrot cake to this sweetened carrot dessert. Best described as a fragrant carrot mush, this tasty concoction is way better than it looks or sounds. In this recipe, the cardamom really comes through, as do the almond and cinnamon. I usually leave the saffron out though.

Latest News

Now Trending

FIRST WE FEAST participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means FIRST WE FEAST gets paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. Our editorial content is not influenced by any commissions we receive.